Are you a Nascar fan? What's going on with the business end of it? Are things going to get worse as Nascar tries to reach out to California and the northeast more? Have you noticed a change?

Business backfire: NASCAR hits a speed bump (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15703206/) - After a decade of wild growth, during which NASCAR zoomed to the No. 2 spot on the U.S. sports landscape and ballooned into a $3 billion behemoth, the stock-car market hit a speed bump this year. TV ratings for the races have dipped 7 percent since last season and attendance has skidded at scattered tracks — including empty seats in Charlotte, Atlanta and the smallest crowd ever to watch a NASCAR race in Indianapolis.

With the Nextel Cup finale looming Sunday, the business-end backfire has become a hot topic on the hotrod circuit. Pit road pundits question whether NASCAR is paying a price for alienating its old base — deep-fried, deer-hunting Dixieland — by courting fresh markets. With the league looking north and west to lure new fans, it now holds more races in California and New Hampshire than North and South Carolina. Next season, NASCAR also welcomes a Colombian driver from the Formula-1 world as well as Toyota cars. Heck, Betty Crocker is a modern sponsor.